ome bands
get started when one
runs an ad in some city paper or Craigslist, asking for players to help
realize their musical ambitions. And in the case of a band like MESSER,
all that was needed was good old fashioned serendipity. All of the
players were right where they needed to be according to front man and
band namesake DEREAK MESSER. Some members were spotted where the front
man got his hair or his tattoos done, and before he knew it, the band
MESSER was on their way to active rock glory. With the help of producer
CHAD GENDASON, MESSER has an album that anyone worth their salt in the
current hard rock set can be proud of. This self titled debut came off
the assembly line and onto a #3 placing on the SOUNDSCAN NEW ARTIST
CHART while it's lead single MAKE THIS LIFE peaked at #25 on the ACTIVE
ROCK RADIO. As songwriters, MESSER prove their hearts are in the the
right place with gritty material that speaks to the toxicity in
relationships (their latest single SAVE MYSELF) and the inner turmoils
that go unnoticed due to sunny surroundings with the song EVERYTHING
BEAUTIFUL - a semi-tribute to the CHRIS CORNELL and CHESTER BENNINGTON.
ROCKWIRED had a cahnce to speak with DEREAK MESSER regarding the band's
music. Here is how the interview went.

You
guys have had some tremendous success with the release of your
self-titled debut album. Now that it's been out for a few months, how
do you feel about the finished product?
Oh, it's amazing!
Just to have it out there is just a dream come true! We worked so hard
on this thing. We poured our lives into it and we remember the day that
we started our first white board in the studio when we were just
starting the album, so when we were finally able to check off
all
parts of the album, it was just such a relief and now we're just
beginning to reap the benefits of this whole thing so to speak by
getting out there and playing these songs every night for people
and
seeing the reactions. So, it's been great.

CHECK
OUT THE MUSiC ViDEO FOR SAVE
MYSELF!!!

You guys are now
releasing the second single from the album - SAVE MYSELF. Why was that
song earmarked as the second single?The
message of this song really jumped out for us. It was really current
with what's going on out there in the world. We were seeing a lot of
people talking about relationship stuff. Everyone has been in one kind
of toxic relationship or another and this song is all about that. It's
about being on the precipice of change and getting away from that
toxicity and being able to save themselves by removing themselves from
that situation. I think everyone can relate to that and it seemed
fitting for the times that we're living in and the response to
that
single has been overwhelming. It just kind of worked out well.

THE
ARTiCLE WiLL CONTiNUE FOLLOWiNG
THE ADVERTiSEMENT BELOW

Who all did you guys work with in putting this album
together? CHAD
GENDASON out of SILVERLAKE STUDIOS helped us put this thing
together.
He is out of California and he is basically our sixth member. He
co-wrote the album with us and produced it. He did all of the
producing with us and BEN GROSS and PAUL PAVIO mixed the album which
was just huge deal having those guys behind the
album. At first, we
were'nt sure if they would've been interested and MATT our bass player
just reached out to them through Facebook. At first, they were
hesitant, and then we sent them some songs and then they responded
quickly, saying that they would love to work on this album with us.
They jumped on board and having them two on the album was just amazing
for us as well. And then we had the legenday TOM BAKER to master the
album. He is just a legend in the business. So that was our
team and
everyone did their part above and beyond anythng that we could imagine.

Were there any
reactions to this album that had surprised you or that you didn't see
coming? I
hate to sound this way, but we believed in this thing from day one. We
knew that the songs were good, but its a blessing that this thing has
gotten the response that it has. We were hoping that would be the case,
but you never really know. This is exactly what we had hoped for. These
days, in the world of singles, it's nice to be able to put together an
album and have it be appreciated inthe way that it has been.

Bring me back to the
beginning of this band. How did this whole enterprise get off the
ground?We
all kind of met in very serendipitous ways in the Dallas Forth Worth
Metroplex. A friend of mine had introduced me to JAVIER and through
JAVIER I met KENNY. JAVIER and I just started writing some songs. We
spent a week together and started pounding out some songs and we
realized that this could turn into something special, so we had decided
to pursue it. He and KENNY - the drummer - had been playing
around on
some riffs and then I was getting my hair cut at a TONI AND GUY hair
salon and that was where MADDOX our bass player was doing hair. He's
actually a stylist. We started talking about music and he had tattoos
as well. So we started talking about all of that kind of stuff. As the
rest of us got to know him, we started playing him some songs and that
was what inspired him to enter the fold. When we started writing this
new album with our producer we realized that there were going to be a
lot of guitar parts on it and we didn't want those to be tracked on
stage so we decided to add a second guitar player. Luckily, we
had
known DONNIE DEVILLE. He is an award winning tattoo artist . He had
done tattoo work on all of us and he was alsoa guitat player. He was
already and fan of the band so it felt natural for him to come in and
fill that space. Now the band is where it's at and the rest is history.
What was your musical experience before forming MESSER? I
myself was in a another band years ago that had been signed by the guy
who signed ALICE IN CHAINS to COLUMBIA RECORDS. That was the grunge era
and I had done that for a while and recorded album with them and then I
got aout of the music business for a while. I just kind of stepped away
from things for a while until I had met JAVIER. This has been my second
cahnce in the music business and so far it's been great.
So you and MADDOX are not brothers?No. We're brothers in the music business. He changed
the last name because he wanted to be found easily through social
media.

Describe the
songwriting process within this band. It
usually starts out with a guitar riff or maybe a melody. I had flown
out to California to work with our producer CHAD who is a genius singer
songwriter. We threw around some riff ideas that the guys had come up
with and we went through them and came up with melodies and drum parts.
The lyrics come at the very end of the process because you want to keep
them as current as possible. When you've got a melody, you pretty much
know the direction you want to go in and then you finalize everything
with a strong hook. That's the way it all comes together in the end.

What was the roll
out for this album like. Was the release accompanied by any live shows?
Yeah
we had a big show. We've been real lucky to be getting all of this
attention for the album. We've pretty much hit the ground running as
soon as we got this thing finished. Especially after we
released our
first single. We hit the road and just played and played and played. I
can't think of how many shows that we did this year, but it was a very
busy year and we're hoping to double that next year. 2019 is going ot
be our year!

THE
ARTiCLE WiLL CONTiNUE FOLLOWiNG
THE ADVERTiSEMENT BELOW

What songs have live audiences responded to the most? It's
kind of crazy! Every crowd has their favorite song after every show. We
actually have a couple of ballads on this album that get amazing
response. Even the heaviest crowds come up to us afterward with tears
in their eyes going "Thank you so much!" We had a big show in Kansas a
month or so ago, we played the song ONE MORE TIME which is song that
goes out any one who has ever lost anyone. It's about wishing that you
had one more chance to see that person and tell them what they meant to
you. This lady came up to me as soon as I got off the stage and she
thanked me with tears in her eyes and telling me that she had just
burried her sister that day and her and her family just happened to be
at that show that night. We get that kind of response every night.
Every song has a person that really get atached to it. That's all we
want.
What songs off of the album have you the most excited to get people to
hear and why?The
single that I wanted to go with at first is the song EVERYTHING
BEAUTIFUL. I'm really excited about that one becasue it touches on
something that I think is important. No matter what you do with your
life, you may have what people perceive as the
perfect life but they
have no idea what is going on in your own head. That song deals with
that. That song makes me think of the people we've lost like CHRIS
CORNELL and CHESTER BENNINGTON - guys who appeared to have the perfect
life but obviously they were really troubled in their lives. No mattter
what it looks like on the otuside , you never know what they're
fighting on the inside.

What is the big idea
behind this album? What would you like for people to come away with
after they hear it? We
want this to be a positive uplifting album. We want this album to be a
collection of songs that you can grow with and will hopefully stand the
test of time. This album is a life's journey. It's our journey but we
want it to be your journey as well. These are songs that can get you
through each day.

rian Lush is a music
industry
professional and entrepreneur. In 2005 he launched the
online music
site Rockwired.com to help promote new music artists in conjunction
with the weekly radio show Rockwired Live which aired on KTSTFM.COM
from 2005 - 2009. In 2010 He launched the daily podcast series
Rockwired Radio Profiles which features exclusive interviews and music.
He has also developed and produced the online radio shows Jazzed and
Blue - Profiles in Blues and Jazz, Aboriginal Sounds - A Celebration of
American Indian and First Nations Music, The Rockwired Rock N Roll
Mixtape Show and The Rockwired Artist of the Month Showcase. In 2012,
Brian Lush and his company Rockwired Media LLC launched the monthly
digital online publication Rockwired Magazine. The magazine attracts
over 75,000 readers a month and shows
no signs of stopping. Rockwired Magazine also bares the distinction
of being the first American Indian-owned rock magazine. Brian Lush is
an enrolled member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe. Brian Lush's background
in music journalism, radio and podcast hosting, podcast production, web
design, publicity, advertising sales, social media and online
marketing, strategic editorial planning and branding have all made
Rockwired a name that is trusted and respected throughout the
independent music industry.